Insider Buying: Sunoco (TXSE:SUN) Director Purchases $92,295.00 in Stock

Sunoco LP (TXSE:SUN) Director David Skidmore bought 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $61.53 per share, for a total transaction of $92,295.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,624.44. This trade represents a 7.79% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Sunoco Stock Down 0.6%

SUN stock opened at $64.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.82 and a 200-day moving average of $68.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.29. Sunoco LP has a one year low of $50.52 and a one year high of $80.22.

Sunoco (TXSE:SUN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The oil and gas company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.39). Sunoco had a net margin of 2.88% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The firm had revenue of $18.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Sunoco LP will post 10.60 EPS for the current year.

Sunoco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $1.0148 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This is a positive change from Sunoco’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.0023. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.2%. Sunoco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SUN has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sunoco from $82.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Sunoco in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $87.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Sunoco from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Sunoco in a research report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sunoco

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SUN. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sunoco by 51.5% during the first quarter. Recurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,027,877 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $66,781,000 after acquiring an additional 349,254 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sunoco by 34.1% during the first quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 972,935 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $63,212,000 after acquiring an additional 247,569 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 369,073 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $24,912,000 after acquiring an additional 40,758 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 2,633.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 300,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $21,861,000 after buying an additional 289,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Sunoco by 32.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 204,609 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $13,293,000 after buying an additional 49,589 shares during the last quarter. 24.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sunoco Company Profile

Sunoco LP (NYSE:SUN) is a master limited partnership focused primarily on the distribution and wholesale marketing of motor fuels. The company supplies gasoline, diesel and other refined products to independent fuel retailers, commercial customers, distributors and other end users, including customers operating under the Sunoco brand. Sunoco’s operations include fuel terminals, pipelines, transportation assets and other logistics infrastructure used to receive, store, blend and deliver petroleum products.